Carol Stream, IL December 12, 2016 – Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $750,000 grant to Church Law & Tax (CLT) to support its online work in helping set fair and reasonable pastor and church worker compensation.

CLT is a ministry of Christianity Today.

"We are grateful to Lilly Endowment for this generous grant," said Matthew Branaugh, Editor of the Church Law & Tax team. "It will be largely used to develop a web-based platform that churches and pastors can use to determine fair compensation levels.

"For years," Branaugh said, "our Compensation Handbook for Church Staff has provided pay and benefits data that helps congregations determine whether they are compensating their pastors and staff fairly. Through Lilly Endowment's National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders, we can now aggressively expand these efforts to ensure even more churches of all sizes, settings, and faith traditions nationwide can benefit from this powerful data."

In addition to the development of a web-based platform, the grant provides for additional staffing to expand the visibility and reach of the Church Law & Tax team's current church financial resources, including its national compensation survey and reports, to bolster financial literacy among pastors and the churches they serve. Together, with the 50 organizations related to the national initiative, the Church Law & Tax team will now be able to reach leaders at more than 100 denominations that shepherd more than 200,000 congregations in the U.S.

Finally, the grant will be used to expand and upgrade the National Church Compensation Survey to ensure the most current research practices are used to collect relevant data, generate more responses, and provide insightful analysis to churches and pastors.

Christianity Today is a nonprofit, global media ministry centered on Beautiful Orthodoxy—strengthening the church by richly communicating the breadth of the true, good, and beautiful gospel. Reaching over four million people monthly with various digital and print resources, the ministry equips Christians to renew their minds, serve the church, and create culture to the glory of God.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family—J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli—through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly & Company. The Endowment exists to support the causes of religion, education, and community development. Lilly Endowment's religion grant-making is designed to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians. It does this largely through initiatives to enhance and sustain the quality of ministry in American congregations and parishes.